[andre251]

anybody ever heard of bella seina saxophones?

it says it is made in paris but I am not sure. It is a very good sounding and playing saxophone. the one I tried is a series III and of course, it played just like a selmer.

anybody have any info?

1 grand for anyone who is wondering

 

[andre251]

When I do a google search, this is the only website that comes up. The person selling the instruments said it is made in France. However, I know that in France you can only buy a sax neck, or half a hand bag for one thousand US dollars. So I imagine it is actually Chinese, but just has paris france printed on it.
So even I do end up really enjoying the sax, what types of things do I look at to figure out whether it is a good deal?
aka, will the mechanisms continue to work and are the parts repairable.

Thanks for anyone that can help. I am just looking for a cheap sax around this price and dont want to go with the 300-400 dollar ones I also see in China.

Thanks

p.s. No white gloves in the case.
;-)

 

[milandro]

http://bellaseina.com/

Well,Nowhere did I find anything which actually says that the saxophone are made in France ( the French text which I don’t think was written by a French person doesn’t say that)

I think it says it says just -Paris- not Made in Paris or France, quite different! If you remember this was one of the early mistakes made by P.Mauriat which were trying to give themselves a French image while everything else was Taiwanese.

Very revealingly there are two linguistic areas on the site one says Europe and America........ in French ( mais naturellement!) the other one in............Chinese (the system doesn’t show the Mandarin Characters) .......it says Asia Area (Sic!)



the addresses are one in France and one in China

this has all the makings of the saxophone made in China, judging from some strange typing in the French bit, this might even be a completely Chinese operation or it is otherwise a joint venture. They are just saving on the white gloves but they are Chinese alright.

If you are buying this, in China, for $1000, this is completely crazy.

 

[JayeLID]

Plagiarismo di plagiarismo !!!!

Hilarious. Their logo is a ripoff of Mauriat, itself trying to seem like a logo of yesteryear....and they took it all the way down to using "Paris".

I would imagine their Paris annex consists of a small rented office space somewhere, so they have a bona-fide street address....and perhaps with one person part-time employed to receive snail mail (?)

Andre251, PM me if you want a good Alto for $400.....

 

[milandro]

actually their address is not really in Paris city but in de Banlieu (the not so nice belt of small towns in the suburbs around the city) ..........here :faceinpalm:



https://maps.google.nl/maps?client=...tin&ei=e8w9Uqq3OOu00wXw9oH4Ag&ved=0CC0QxB0wAA

 

[JayeLID]

Looks like a sax factory to me......and there's a Peugeot in the driveway....

 

[andre251]

The saxophone really did play great. The biggest issue to me is the "made in" section. It says "made in paris". Not made in Franch. I have never known any product in the world to stamp what city the product was made in. The sax is clearly built with high quality, I am really just concerned whether it would be repairable if I need basic stuff done.
I am glad a french speaker read the text, because as I assumed, it is not actually written in good french.
I really want to get a sax from Taiwan. I am just asking more about this horn because it plays so ridiculously well. (and I do know what I am talking about)

 

[milandro]

Andrè, if it plays well, it plays well, you will be the judge of this.

There is NO way this horn is made in France (and then exported to China are you joking?) or Paris and the only link with Paris is a small house in a not too nice suburban town outside Paris( as shown in the link above).

Jaye is obviously joking that is NOT a saxophone factory!


These horns are 100% Chinese but this doesn’t mean that they are necessarily bad.

Since you are in China call the number they publish in the contact us section 0886-577-86512556 ( If I were you I would look up the Chinese address on Google too for fun but I cannot type the Chinese ideograms otherwise I’d do this for you)

 

[andre251]

I am planning on having my girlfriend call them tomorrow. The guy at the music store swore the instrument was french. I know it is not french for sure. lol.
I am just concerned about the build quality. I am not really sure how to tell if a horn is great or just good.

They have a few 200-300 dollar saxes that feel like they will fall apart in my hands. This instrument, upon picking it up, it felt exactly like a selmer in my hands. It also played like one.

I made a terrible deal two days ago that I am kicking myself for. I had a pretty good chinese flute I bought for a grand about 6 years ago. I sold it to a music store for 200 dollars toward a japanese Altus Azumino flute. Model A 907.
All the website I can find show this as being very valuable.
However, after playing it for a while, I like my Chinese Haynes copy flute better. So I am going to offer the music store with the Bella Seina my new Japanese flute as a trade for the Bella Seina and a decent intermediate or semi pro level chinese flute.

I will only be in Asia for another month and have a Korean music store and P. Mauriat factory visit left.

 

[milandro]

have you girlfriend look up their address on google first. there is a VERY good chance that the people whom will answer the phone are a trade company themselves and buy these saxophones with this brand from one of the many makers in China.

 

[andre251]

I spent the money I had saved up so far to buy a Altus flute. Pretty darn happy with it. I am also trying to go to the Shanghai music conference. I looked at the list of companies attending and Bella Seina is definitely not there! lol

 

[milandro]

if all the people who import or sell saxophones under a brand name of some sort would have to exhibit at a trade fair ( the Shanghai Musikmesse is not a meeting of sort but a trade fair by the way) there would be the need for huge facilities and would take day and days just to walk around the place, let alone having time to see everything.

Most Chinese makers are huge factories producing all sorts of music instruments and having several hundreds of people working for them.

 

[andre251]

I dont know if anyone really cares, but I want to share that I ended up going with the Bella Seina alto. I am planning on getting a quality pad job for it. It is apparently a Reference 54 copy.
Great intonation, great sound and great action. I guess I will just have to see how it holds up.
By the way, yes, China does make some cheap instruments, but they also have expensive, seemingly very good quality instruments.

Just like clothes, some clothes are cheap made in China, but some others that are expensive are quite nice.

I will let you all know in a few months how this goes!

 

[milandro]

, I am sure that you know the song............if you are happy and you know it , clap your hands ............just make sure that you are wearing a strap while doing this and play your new saxophone. Whatever the name.

 

[andre251]

I am pretty happy. Also,the strap that comes with the sax is a copy of a the rico strap that I use, except it comes with the logo of the company on it.

You can play "happy and I know it" and I will play my shows.

 

[milandro]

Well, I am happy with my horns and I am happy to hear that you are happy with yours, whatever they are